New Jersey drones stump FBI; lawmakers furious at federal inaction

U.S. officials are not sure what to make of the swarms of drones flying over New Jersey in recent weeks, sparking outrage from lawmakers who said it makes the government look incompetent.

Those lawmakers decried the lack of answers — and lack of action.

“We can bring one down tomorrow,” said Rep. Christopher Smith, New Jersey Republican.

Robert Wheeler Jr., who runs the FBI’s critical incident response group, said no evidence suggests nefarious motives, but he hasn’t ruled that out.

“It is concerning,” he told the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday.

He said the public has provided more than 3,000 tips, and reports are everywhere.

Some drones have been fixed-wing aircraft, and others are rotary. Some are larger than the typical commercially available size.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, called the drones “sophisticated” and said they “go dark” once detected.

“We’re most concerned about sensitive targets and sensitive critical infrastructure. We’ve military assets, we’ve got utility assets,” he said this week.

The drones were spotted in the general area of Picatinny Arsenal, an Army research complex, and President-elect Donald Trump’s home at Bedminster.

“Why are we not taking action?” Rep. August Pfluger, the Texas Republican who convened Tuesday’s hearing on drone dangers, demanded of FBI and Justice Department officials.

Mr. Wheeler offered a bureaucratically intricate response. He said “authority exists to mitigate” a drone while in flight, but he didn’t explain why it hasn’t happened.

At the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Biden knew of the New Jersey drones, but she would not comment further.

“Obviously, this is something DHS and the FBI are tracking very closely,” she said.

Defense Department spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Wednesday that the Pentagon has no evidence that the swarm is the work of an adversary or some other foreign entity, adding that U.S. military base commanders have the authority to use force against a drone that poses a threat.

“We’re going to continue to monitor what is happening. But at no point were our installations threatened when this activity was occurring,” she said. 

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, New York Republican, said the lack of answers has become an embarrassment.

“The fact that we continue to say we don’t know what they are, we don’t know what they’re doing — the American people are looking at us and think we’re lying to them because they think, ‘How could you not have answers to drones flying over some of the most critical airspace in the country?’” he said.

Mr. Smith said he was visiting authorities on Monday. One sheriff said a deputy spotted 50 drones flying over the shore on a recent night. A Coast Guard officer said one of his boats was followed by “between 12 and 30 of these drones.”

“I said, ‘What’s the rules of engagement?’” Mr. Smith said. “He said, ‘We don’t know. We don’t have any.’”

Paul Schwennesen, co-director of the Global Strategy Decisions Group, said he thinks authorities are “frozen with fear” of the ramifications from collateral damage of taking down a drone, such as debris hitting a house.

“People are acting out of a sense of self-restraint here, which is being promoted by our policy environment,” he told lawmakers.

Experts noted threats elsewhere.

At the U.S.-Mexico border, Customs and Border Protection said 6,900 drone flights were detected during a recent six-week period. Keith Jones, a top official at CBP, said the intent is uncertain but a “large percent” are nefarious.

He said the risk is “increasingly rapidly.”

“We’re already seeing drug cartels in Mexico use drones to attack the military, police and their rivals,” Mr. Jones said.

He said those are potential dangers to the U.S. but the more current threats are smuggling operations that use drones as surveillance platforms. They track U.S. assets and spot holes in defenses so they know when to send high-risk contraband across the border.

Mr. Jones said CBP has managed to “mitigate” some flights, though only those that cross into U.S. airspace. Much of the surveillance of the U.S. is from drones flying over Mexico.

Drone flights have disrupted operations at U.S. airports and sporting events.

Lawmakers seemed comfortable with the federal government’s existing powers to track and destroy drones, though they said that authority must be extended and enhanced.

They said the bigger policy holes are at the state and local levels, where most drone incidents are handled.